UNIVERSITY    OF  CALIFORNIA   PUBLICATIONS 

COLLEGE  OF  AGRICULTURE 

AGRICULTURAL    EXPERIMENT   STATION 

BERKELEY,  CALIFORNIA 


PUMPING  FOR  DRAINAGE  IN  THE 

SAN  JOAQUIN  VALLEY, 

CALIFORNIA 


BY 
WALTER  W.  WEIR 


BULLETIN  No.  382 

January,  1925 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  PRINTING  OFFICE 

BERKELEY,  CALIFORNIA 

1925 


PUMPING  FOR  DRAINAGE   IN   THE   SAN  JOAQUIN 

VALLEY,    CALIFORNIA 


By  WALTER  W.  WEIR 


INTRODUCTION 

The  first  comprehensive  system  of  drainage  by  pumping  from 
deep  wells  was  installed  in  the  Salt  River  Valley  of  Arizona  in  1919. 
This  method  of  drainage  promises,  under  favorable  conditions,  to  be 
more  successful  than  any  previously  undertaken  and  the  apparent 
ease  with  which  these  pumps  lowered  the  water  table  has  led  western 
engineers  to  take  an  unusual  interest  in  it. 

The  fundamental  principles  involved  in  lowering  a  water  table 
by  pumping  were  not  new,  but  until  this  time  they  had  not  been 
demonstrated  as  applicable  to  the  drainage  of  waterlogged  and  alkali 
lands  of  the  irrigated  regions. 

As  the  result  of  notable  success  in  pumping  in  Arizona,  there  has 
been  considerable  activity  along  similar  lines  in  the  San  Joaquin 
Valley  of  California.  The  lack  of  published  information  on  this 
subject  and  the  varying  conditions  encountered  in  the  different 
sections  has  led  to  considerable  experimental  work  both  by  the  Agri- 
cultural Experiment  Station  and  the  several  irrigation  districts  in 
California. 

In  this  paper  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  gather  together  and 
correlate  some  of  the  important  data  which  have  been  accumulated  by 
these  agencies.  I  am  indebted  to  the  engineers  of  the  San  Joaquin 
Valley  irrigation  districts  for  access  to  their  files  for  much  of  the 
detail  of  this  report;  to  the  pump  manufacturers  for  diagrams,  cuts 
and  other  information  on  pumps;  and  to  Mr.  J.  C.  Marr,  Drainage 
Engineer,  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  for  recent  infor- 
mation on  the  Salt  River  Valley  Project.  The  drawings  were  made 
by  Mr.  Stanley  W.  Cosby,  Research  Associate  in  Soil  Technology. 

HISTORY    OF   DRAINAGE    OF    IRRIGATED    LANDS 

It  must  be  recognized  that  although  in  recent  years  there  has  been 
considerable  progress,  the  drainage  of  irrigated  lands  has  not  been 
completely  successful.  In  the  early  attempts,  failures  resulted  from 
inexperience  with  the  conditions  which  are  peculiar  to  the  waterlog- 


4  UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

ging  of  soils  of  arid  regions.  The  presence  of  alkali  and  its  concen- 
tration at  or  near  the  surface  as  the  result  of  a  high  water  table 
brought  about  by  irrigation  practices  adds  considerably  to  the  com- 
plexity of  the  drainage  problem  in  an  arid  region. 

It  was  only  after  an  extended  period  of  experimentation  that  the 
principles  now  recognized  as  fundamental  were  utilized  by  engineers 
and  that  the  drainage  of  irrigated  lands  became  fairly  successful. 
There  are  still  a  great  many  problems  connected  with  the  removal 
of  alkali  from  the  root  zone  of  plants  which  have  not  been  satisfac- 
torily solved.* 

A  better  understanding  of  the  fact  that  the  water  table  must  be 
maintained  at  sufficient  depth  below  the  surface  to  prevent  further 
deposition  of  alkali  by  capillary  rise  and  evaporation  within  the  root 
zone  of  plants  has  led  to  greater  success  in  more  recent  drainage  enter- 
prises. However,  the  utilization  of  this  idea  is  often  difficult,  first, 
because  of  insufficient  knowledge  as  to  the  proper  minimum  depth  for 
any  given  soil,  and  second  because  of  the  necessity  of  accomplishing 
the  desired  result  at  a  cost  commensurate  with  the  value  of  the  im- 
proved land. 

The  high  " first  cost"  of  efficient  tile  or  open  ditch  drainage  for 
alkali  lands  together  with  the  frequent  necessity  for  additional  ex- 
penditures in  removing  alkali  from  the  surface  of  the  soil  after  the 
lowering  of  the  water  table  has  resulted  in  rather  meager  attempts 
at  drainage  for  this  type  of  land  in  California. 

Where  black  alkali  (sodium  carbonate)  exists  in  any  considerable 
quantity  the  difficulty  of  removing  it  at  a  cost  within  reason  further 
complicates  the  problem.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  very  little  land  in 
which  black  alkali  has  accumulated  in  quantities  has  been  fulty 
reclaimed  in  California. 

It  is  better,  though  difficult  in  practice,  to  prevent  land  from 
becoming  waterlogged  than  to  reclaim  it  after  it  has  reached  that 
condition.  The  main  difficulty  in  this  respect  lies  in  the  refusal  of 
those  concerned  to  admit  that  all  lands  irrigated  from  gravity  systems 
are  potentially  subject  to  drainage  difficulties. 

With  these  facts  in  mind,  drainage  engineers  must  attempt  to 
provide  cures  for  the  trouble  at  the  same  time  that  they  recommend 
prevent ive  measures. 


*  K.llrv,  W.  P.,  The  Present  Status  of  Alkali.    Agr.  Exp.  Sta.  Cir.  219:  1-10, 
]  020. 


BULLETIN  382]       PUMPING  FOR  DRAINAGE  IN  THE  SAN  JOAQUIN  VALLEY        5 


PREVIOUS    DRAINAGE    IN    THE   SAN    JOAQUIN    VALLEY 

In  each  of  the  irrigation  districts  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  where 
drainage  pumps  are  installed  at  the  present  time  (1924),  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  drainage  work  of  the  open  ditch  type  had  been 
installed  prior  to  the  pumping. 

Before  the  organization  of  the  Merced  Irrigation  District,  two 
drainage  districts  were  organized  in  a  portion  of  the  same  territory, 
one  at  Livingston  and  the  other  at  Atwater.  Both  of  these  had  com- 
pleted a  rather  extensive  system  of  open  drains  discharging  into  the 


Fig.  1. — A  typical  drainage  pump  installation  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley.     Note 
the  metal  pump  house,  short  discharge  line  and  concrete  lined  irrigation  canal. 

San  Joaquin  River.  The  rather  rough  topography  of  these  areas 
necessitated  deep  cuts  through  the  ridges  in  order  to  drain  the  depres- 
sions to  a  satisfactory  depth.  Although  aiding  materially  in  the 
removal  of  surplus  water  from  these  areas,  more  was  needed  before 
entirely  satisfactory  conditions  were  reached.  The  Merced  Irrigation 
District  has  now  absorbed  these  drainage  districts  and  taken  over 
the  drains  as  a  part  of  its  outlet  system. 

Similar  but  more  extensive  drainage  works  have  been  completed 
in  the  Turlock  Irrigation  District.  More  than  75  miles  of  drainage 
ditches  and  tile  lines  have  been  constructed.  These  drains  which  were 
constructed  according  to  the  most  advanced  engineering  ideas  and 
average  from  8  to  12  feet  in  depth,  normally  discharge  about  100 
cubic  feet  per  second  or  approximately  l1/^  cubic  feet  per  second  per 
mile  of  drain.    This  system  cost  $300,000. 


6  UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

Aside  from  these  drains  which  also  act  as  spillways  for  the  irri- 
gation ditches,  the  district  has  within  the  past  few  years  prevented 
much  seepage  from  the  larger  irrigation  laterals  by  lining  them  with 
concrete.  In  1923,  there  were  45  miles  of  concrete-lined  canals. 
Figure  1  shows  such  a  canal. 

Drains  have  also  been  constructed  in  both  the  Modesto  and  South 
San  Joaquin  Irrigation  Districts.  Those  in  the  South  San  Joaquin 
have  been  less  beneficial  than  those  in  the  other  districts,  largely 
because  the  outlet  was  not  such  as  would  permit  a  satisfactory  depth 
of  drainage.  Furthermore,  a  shortage  of  late  season  irrigation  water 
led  to  the  impression  among  the  water  users  that  deep  drainage  was 
undesirable. 

Many  farms  in  the  various  districts  are  not  levelled  or  prepared 
for  irrigation  and  have  depended  upon  a  high  water  table  to  provide 
moisture  for  their  crops.  This  has  been  a  more  common  practice  in 
the  vicinity  of  Manteca  than  farther  south  in  the  valley.  The  com- 
parative absence  of  drainage  of  any  type  south  of  the  Merced  district 
has  undoubtedly  been  due  to  the  lack  of  any  organization  which  could 
satisfactorily  undertake  work  of  a  nature  which  requires  strict  cooper- 
ation among  the  land  owners  both  for  planning  and  financing. 

EFFECTS  OF   PUMPING   FOR   IRRIGATION 

It  has  long  been  recognized  that  in  irrigated  areas  where  the  water 
supply  is  obtained  by  pumping  from  underground  sources  within  the 
area  irrigated  the  drainage  problem  is  reduced  to  a  minimum.  Con- 
tinued pumping  in  such  areas  or  a  material  increase  in  the  number 
of  pumps  has  frequently  resulted  in  a  water  table  receding  to  such 
an  extent  that  pumps  have  been  lowered  and  restrictions  placed  upon 
their  operation.  This  condition  is  well  brought  out  in  certain  areas 
along  the  Kaweah  River  delta  in  Tulare  County,  in  the  Santa  Clara 
Valley  and  in  several  areas  in  the  southern  coast  counties  of  the  state. 

A  particularly  interesting  example,  because  at  one  time  drainage 
was  a  problem,  has  occurred  near  Chino  in  San  Bernardino  County. 
Prior  to  1914,  a  large  acreage  operated  by  the  American  Beet  Sugar 
Company  near  Chino  was  wet  and  strongly  alkaline.  In  places  during 
the  winter  months  water  stood  on  the  land  and  a  few  permanent  cat- 
tail swamps  provided  duck  hunting  sites.  Because  of  this  condition, 
beet  planting  was  delayed  until  late  in  the  spring  with  the  result  that 
inferior  crops  were;  produced. 

The  area  was  later  tile  drained,  the  tile  having  an  average  depth 
of  six  feet  and  an  average  spacing  of  660  feet.     As  a  result  of  these 


BULLETIN  382]       PUMPING  FOR  DRAINAGE  IN  THE  SAN  JOAQUIN  VALLEY        7 

drains  the  water  table  was  lowered,  the  ponds  disappeared  and  crop 
returns  enhanced.  During  the  past  few  years,  this  land  has  become 
more  thickly  settled  and  more  intensively  farmed,  the  water  for  irri- 
gation being  pumped  from  wells  on  the  property.  These  wells  have 
so  lowered  the  water  table  that  the  tile  now  lies  above  the  level  of 
the  ground  water  and  has  ceased  to  flow.  Drainage  is  no  longer 
considered  necessary  and  the  pumps  raise  the  water  from  about 
30  feet  below  the  surface. 

On  portions  of  the  Rancho  La  Sierra  near  Arlington,  Riverside 
County,  where  irrigation  is  supplied  from  paimps  located  in  a  low, 
poorly  drained  depression,  the  water  table  is  lowered  to  about  6  feet 
below  the  surface  while  the  pumps  are  in  operation,  but  during  the 
non-irrigating  season,  it  again  rises  to  the  surface. 

At  Fresno,  drainage  conditions  have  been  incidentally  improved 
by  pumps.  The  city  of  Fresno,  which  is  located  in  the  heart  of  a  large 
irrigated  area,  was  in  1914  seriously  affected  by  poor  drainage  and 
high  water  table.  At  that  time  the  average  depth  to  water  under 
the  main  business  portion  of  the  city  was  about  6  feet.  Most  of  the 
larger  buildings  having  basements  and  the  subway  under  the  Southern 
Pacific  tracks  were  provided  with  pumps  in  order  to  keep  them  dry. 

Twenty-seven  pumping  plants  supplying  domestic  water  are  now 
in  operation  by  the  Fresno  City  Water  Corporation.  These  cover  an 
area  of  about  8000  acres.  The  demand  for  water  does  not  require  the 
continuous  operation  of  all  of  these  pumps,  but  during  brief  periods 
of  high  consumption  when  they  are  all  in  concurrent  operation  the 
total  water  pumped  approximates  13,000,000  gallons  per  day.  The 
total  water  pumped  during  1923  was  19,500  acre  feet.  This  has 
lowered  the  water  table  about  13  feet,  making  a  total  depth  to  water 
of  about  20  feet.  During  the  construction  of  a  large  building  in 
Fresno  in  1923  excavations  to  a  depth  of  23  feet  below  the  street  level 
did  not  encounter  water. 

APPLICATION    OF    PUMPING    TO    DRAINAGE 

The  principle  of  lowering  the  water  table  by  pumping  was  not 
applied,  with  that  object  in  view,  to  poorly  drained  alkali  areas  of 
irrigated  land  until  1919,  when  the  present  plans  in  the  Salt  River 
Valley  were  undertaken.  In  fact,  it  was  only  after  exhaustive  studies 
carried  on  in  previous  years  had  shown  that  the  water  so  pumped  was 
needed  and  could  be  economically  used  for  irrigation  that  the  Board 
of  Governors  of  the  Salt  River  Vallcv  Water  Users  Association  was 
authorized  to  proceed  with  the  work.    The  results  so  far  have  proved 


8  UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

beyond  question  the  soundness  of  the  pumping  idea  and  farmers 
are  more  generally  coming  to  realize  that  it  is  just  as  economically 
feasible,  where  conditions  are  not  unfavorable,  to  pump  water  for 
drainage  as  it  is  to  pump  water  for  irrigation.  The  almost  immediate 
lowering  of  the  water  table  following  the  operation  of  a  limited 
number  of  pumps  in  the  Salt  River  Valley  led  to  unusual  and  wide- 
spread interest  in  this  method.  The  success  of  pumping  was  doubly 
striking  in  this  valley  because  in  the  nearby  Tempe  Drainage  District, 
where  conditions  were  similar,  open  ditch  drains  had  not  met  with 
marked  success  after  several  years  of  operation. 

FUNDAMENTAL    REQUIREMENTS 

It  must  not  be  assumed  that  at  the  present  time  (1924)  the  best 
procedure  regarding  location  of  wells,  type  of  pump  and  many  other 
details  have  been  fully  worked  out  even  for  any  one  locality,  and  it 
is  doubtful  if  the  details  for  a  widely  applicable  design  can  ever  be 
worked  out. 

It  would  appear,  however,  from  the  data  which  have  been  collected 
from  various  sources  that  there  is  justification  in  making  a  few  broad 
and  general  statements  regarding  the  fundamental  requirements  to 
be  met  in  order  to  be  successful  in  drainage  by  pumping. 

1.  There  must  be  a  direct  connection  between  the  ground  water 
table  near  the  surface  and  the  deeper  lying  pervious  water  bearing 
strata  from  which  the  water  is  pumped.  In  other  words,  the  water 
table  as  first  encountered  must  not  be  artificial  and  have  a  layer  of 
dry  or  impervious  material  between  it  and  the  normal  ground  water. 

2.  The  underlying  water  bearing  strata  must  be  porous  enough  to 
give  up  their  water  freely  under  pumping. 

3.  There  must  be  sufficient  water  pumped  from  the  lower  strata  to 
cause  that  which  is  near  the  surface  to  move  downward  by  gravity 
to  replace  that  which  has  been  pumped. 

The  general  effect  on  the  water  table  should  be  the  same  whether 
the  water  is  pumped  from  the  bottom  of  the  reservoir  or  taken  from 
near  the  top  by  means  of  tile  or  open  drains.  Drainage  is  accom- 
plished by  lowering  the  water  table  below  the  point  where  it  can  either 
directly  or  indirectly  cause  damage  to  growing  plants. 

GROWTH    OF    THE    IDEA    IN    SAN    JOAQUIN    VALLEY 

In  California  and  especially  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley,  pumping 
for  drainage  has  increased  even  more  rapidly  than  in  Arizona.  In 
the  spring  of  1924,  there  were  ready  for  operation,  for  drainage  pur- 


BULLETIN  382]       PUMPING  FOR  DRAINAGE  IN  THE  SAN  JOAQUIN  VALLEY        9 

poses,  approximately  30  pumping  plants  in  the  South  San  Joaquin 
Irrigation  District,  32  in  Modesto,  45  in  Turlock,  and  30  in  Merced, 
and  several  in  the  Fresno  Irrigation  District.  In  addition  to  these, 
there  are  9  pumps  on  the  Fresno  Sewer  Farm,  whose  primary  object 
is  sewage  disposal  but  which  are  similar  in  design  to  the  drainage 
pumps  of  the  valley  and  which  have  had  a  material  effect  on  drainage 
conditions  in  that  vicinity.  The  several  districts  which  have  installed 
drainage  pumps  have  not  followed  the  same  plan  in  all  details  and 
two  somewhat  divergent  ideas  are  represented.  In  order  to  bring  out 
these  differences,  each  will  be  discussed  and  the  facts  given  which 


Fig.  2. — Sandy  land  at  Turlock  cultivated  for  the  first  time  in  several  years. 
The  depression  shown  in  the  foreground  was  rapidly  drained  of  standing  water  by 
the  operation  of  a  drainage  pump  located  nearly  a  half  mile  distant. 

might  justify  each  design.  The  plan  adopted  by  the  Merced  Irriga- 
tion District  is  typical  of  the  ideas  of  those  who  advocate  the  larger 
type  of  well  and  pump  and  a  general  lowering  of  the  water  table  over 
the  area,  while  the  Turlock  Irrigation  District  has  followed  out  the 
idea  that  smaller  pumps  which  will  have  only  a  local  effect  on  the 
water  table  will  be  the  more  satisfactory. 


SOILS    AND    TOPOGRAPHY 

The  character  of  the  poorly  drained  soils  on  the  east  side  of  the 
San  Joaquin  Valley  is  apparently  of  such  a  nature  that  this  type  of 
drainage  will  prove  satisfactory.  Throughout  the  northern  end  of  the 
valley  in  the  South  San  Joaquin,  Modesto,  Turlock  and  Merced  Dis- 
tricts, the  principal  soils  belong  to  the  Oakley,  Fresno  and  Madera 


10  UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

series,  and  are  usually  sandy  in  nature.  Practically  all  of  the  wind 
deposited  Oakley  series  and  much  of  the  soils  of  other  series  have  a 
more  or  less  uneven  topography,  while  the  hardpan  layer  of  the 
Madera,  and  the  intermittent  and  fragmentary  lenses  of  hardpan  at 
varying  depths  in  the  Fresno  series,  have  not  been  found  to  be  a 
serious  interference  with  the  vertical  movement  of  water.  Figure  2 
gives  a  general  idea  of  the  local  topography  near  Turlock  and  the 
rapidity  with  which  these  sandy  soils  can  be  drained.  Occasionally, 
in  the  Madera  and  Fresno  soils,  saucer-shaped  pockets  underlaid  by 
hardpan  have  held  water  above  the  surrounding  water  table;  but 
this  condition  is  unusual.  In  a  general  way,  the  topography  is  more 
even  and  flat  toward  the  southern  part  of  the  valley,  and  the  water 
table  is  more  nearly  parallel  to  the  ground  surface.  Extensive  ground 
water  studies  covering  a  number  of  years  in  the  Turlock  District  show 
that  the  water  table  is  approximately  parallel  to  the  general  ground 
surface,  but  not  necessarily  parallel  to  the  local  topography.  In  this 
area  the  water  table  has  a  gradual  southwest  slope  toward  the  San 
Joaquin  River  and  parallel  to  the  Tuolumne  and  Merced  Rivers. 

The  more  or  less  uneven  local  topography  of  this  region  results  in 
local  areas  of  poor  drainage  or  "pot  holes"  surrounded  by  areas  where 
the  water  table  is  at  a  safe  distance  below  the  surface.  The  ponds 
thus  formed  are  not  so  much  the  result  of  water  having  flowed  into 
depressions  from  surrounding  higher  areas  as  of  the  fact  that  the 
bottoms  of  these  depressions  are  in  actual  elevation  lower  than  the 
ground  water  table.  Differences  of  elevation  of  15  to  20  feet  within 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  are  not  uncommon  in  some  of  the  rougher  areas. 

In  the  Merced  district,  the  topography  is  generally  a  little  more 
even  than  at  Turlock,  while  in  Fresno,  Kings  and  Kern  counties,  the 
waterlogged  areas  are  generally  flat  and  the  water  table  at  a  more 
uniform  distance  from  the  surface  over  larger  areas. 

The  slope  of  the  water  table  and  general  trend  of  water  movement 
at  Merced  is  similar  to  that  at  Turlock,  namely  toward  the  San 
Joaquin  River.  The  logs  of  the  drainage  wells  in  the  valley  show 
considerable  variation  in  profile,  but  it  has  been  found  that  these 
variations  are  of  minor  importance  as  regards  the  suitability  of  the 
well  for  drainage  purposes.  Similar  variations  were  noted  in  the 
wells  of  the  Salt  River  Valley.  In  the  latter  place  considerable  depths 
of  a  hardpan  known  locally  as  "caliche,"  did  not  interfere  with 
drainage.  In  many  cases,  however,  the  log  of  the  wells  was  a  deter- 
mining factot  in  deciding  upon  the  proper  depth  to  which  it  should 
be  drilled.  An  attempt  was  made  to  continue  the  well  to  a  porous 
water  bearing  stratum  of  considerable  Ihiekness. 


BULLETIN  382]       PUMPING  FOR  DRAINAGE  IN  THE  SAN  JOAQUIN  VALLEY      11 

Figure  3  shows  a  theoretical  cross-section  of  the  area  in  which 
wells  were  drilled  on  the  Salt  River  Valley  project,  while  figures  4 
and  5  show  the  plotted  well  logs  on  two  areas  in  the  San  Joaquin 
Valley.  The  particular  significance  of  these  logs  is  that  they  show 
no  uniformity  of  profile  even  for  wells  within  short  distances  of  each 
other.  Wells  1  and  1a  on  the  Fresno  Sewer  Farm  are  about  250  feet 
apart. 


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340 


C/POJJ- SECT/ON   THPOUtfH 
THE  <S^IT    f?/VEP  A /PEA. 


Fig.  3. — Cross-section  of  the  territory  drained  by  pumping  in  the  Salt  Eiver 
Valley,  Arizona,  as  indicated  by  the  logs  of  wells. 


The  observations  on  soil  conditions  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley 
indicate  that  the  soil  profile  is  made  up  of  several  layers  or  strata 
of  material  varying  from  clay  and  hardpan  to  coarse  sand  and  gravel ; 
there  is  no  regularity  in  their  occurrence  except  that  within  about 
100  feet  of  the  surface  two  layers  of  water  bearing  sand  or  gravel 
are  encountered  and  within  150  feet  usually  a  third  layer.  For  the 
purposes  of  pumping  a  very  important  feature  is  that  there  be  no 
continuous  layer  so  impervious  that  the  vertical  movement  of  water 
is  seriously  retarded.  In  wells  which  extend  down  to  the  second  or 
third  sand  or  gravel  stratum,  the  water  stands  at  the  same  distance 
from  the  surface  as  it  does  in  the  so-called  "surface"  wells. 


12  UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

OBJECTS    TO    BE    ACCOMPLISHED 

The  variation  in  design  on  the  several  drainage  pumping  projects 
is  due  to  three  major  differences. 

1.  Differences  in  natural  conditions,  such  as  soil,  topography, 
amount  and  sources  of  water,  and  general  need  of  drainage. 

2.  Differences  of  opinion  as  to  the  minimum  depth  at  which  a 
water  table  must  be  maintained  for  safety.  In  other  words,  differences 
in  the  factor  of  safety  as  represented  in  drainage  depth.  This  may 
vary  with  the  nature  of  the  crops. 

3.  Differences  in  the  need  for  water  for  irrigation  or  other  pur- 
poses. 

In  Salt  River  Valley,  the  object  was  to  lower  the  general  ground 
water  table  to  depths  of  at  least  8  or  10  feet,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
develop  additional  water  for  irrigation.  To  accomplish  this,  the  water 
is  lowered  during  the  irrigation  season  to  depths  beyond  that  neces- 
sary for  drainage  so  that  during  the  non-irrigating  season  the  pumps 
may  be  stopped.  At  the  beginning  of  the  following  irrigation  season 
the  water  table  will  not  have  returned  to  a  height  above  that  pre- 
viously determined  as  allowable.  The  combined  objects,  drainage 
and  irrigation,  make  such  a  plan  entirely  feasible,  whereas  drainage 
alone  might  have  made  some  modification  desirable. 

In  the  Merced  Irrigation  District,  the  engineers  desired  to  main- 
tain a  water  table  at  least  8  feet  from  the  surface  at  all  times  of  the 
year,  and  as  in  the  Salt  River  Valley,  they  considered  it  desirable  to 
lower  the  ground  water  level  over  considerable  areas.  The  topography 
in  this  district  being  somewhat  more  even  than  it  is  farther  north  in 
the  valley  makes  a  general  lowering  of  the  water  table  more  necessary. 
The  pumping  plants  have  been  designed  with  this  in  view  and  differ 
somewhat  from  those  at  Turlock. 

At  Turlock  and  Modesto,  a  local  lowering  of  the  water  table  was 
considered  sufficient.  The  topography  is  such  that  the  wet  areas  are 
more  local  in  character,  being  more  in  the  nature  of  "pot  holes."  It 
was  considered  that  for  the  present  at  least,  these  depressions  would 
be  planted  only  to  annual  crops  and  that  a  high  water  table  during 
a  part  of  the  year  would  not  be  a  serious  matter.  A  water  table  5 
or  6  feet  below  the  surface  was  considered  sufficient.  In  neither  of 
these  districts  is  the  acquiring  of  additional  irrigation  water  a  vital 
consideration,  although  in  each  case  the  pumped  water  is  being  used. 

In  the  South  San  Joaquin  district  a  general  lowering  of  the  water 
table  is  desired,  but  other  conditions  such  as  finances,  lack  of  irriga- 


BULLETIN  382]       PUMPING  FOR  DRAINAGE  IN  THE  SAN  JOAQUIN  VALLEY      13 


tion  water,  desire  for  subirrigation  and  other  factors  have  influenced 
the  size  of  pumps  and  the  degree  to  which  they  affect  the  water  table. 
On  the  Fresno  Sewer  Farm,  the  primary  object  is,  of  course, 
sewage  disposal.  It  was  found  to  be  impossible  to  obtain  an  effluent 
of  sufficient  purity  to  be  turned  into  the  outlet  canals  unless  it  was 
filtered  through  a  considerable  depth  of  soil.     A  high  water  table 


WfLL   / 


/*KZZ  /*4 


WfLL  2 


W£LL   S. 


L£<F£A/£>.- 

C/ay. 
^So/9  C/ay. 

Fig.  4. — Logs  of  four  Fresno  Sewer  Farm  wells.  These  logs  indicate  a  soil 
profile  having  considerable  variation  within  short  distances.  Such  variations,  how- 
ever, have  not  had  a  material  effect  upon  the  efficiency  of  the  well  for  drainage 
purposes. 


14 


UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 


over  the  disposal  area  prevented  such  filtering.  Pumping  from  wells 
not  only  provided  the  necessary  filter  beds  by  lowering  the  water  table, 
but  delivered  relatively  pure  water  to  the  outlet  drains. 

When  pumps  are  provided  for  the  drainage  of  wet  areas  south  of 
Merced,  it  will  be  necessary  to  effect  a  general  lowering  of  the  water 
table  over  considerable  areas  because  of  the  flat  topography  and  the 
large  areas  under  which  the  water  stands  at  a  nearly  uniform  depth. 


o  — 

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Fig.  5. — Logs  of  three  shallow  wells  at  Merced.  As  a  general  rule  two  strata 
of  water-bearing  sand  or  gravel  are  found  within  a  hundred  feet  and  a  third 
within  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  of  the  surface. 


In  areas  where  water  is  pumped  for  irrigation  purposes  only,  the 
controlling  factor  is  cost  of  pumping  and  water  is  lowered  no  farther 
than  is  necessary  to  obtain  the  desired  quantity,  or  where  the  quantity 
is  limited  the  water  table  is  lowered  as  far  as  is  economically  feasible. 
In  the  Latter  case,  this  depth  will  always  be  greater  than  is  necessary 
for  drainage.  It  will  be  readily  seen  that  proper  drainage  is  seldom 
the  only  object  sought  and  that  eillier  economic  or  political  conditions 
may  be  governing  factors  in  the  design  of  drainage  works. 


BULLETIN  382]       PUMPING  FOR  DRAINAGE  IN  THE  SAN  JOAQUIN  VALLEY       15 

QUANTITY    OF  WATER   TO    BE    REMOVED 

An  accurate  estimate  of  the  amount  of  water  in  the  soil  and  the 
amount  necessary  to  remove  in  order  to  accomplish  any  preconceived 
effect  is  a  matter  requiring  careful  study  which  must  usually  be 
carried  on  for  a  period  of  years.  Failure  to  gather  the  data  needed 
to  make  such  an  estimate  is  likely  to  result  in  loss  of  time  and  the 
purchase  of  equipment  not  the  best  suited  to  the  conditions.  Fortun- 
ately, this  type  of  drainage  is  more  susceptible  of  progressive  develop- 
ment than  any  other  type.  It  is  possible  to  install  units  of  a  given 
size  which  if  found  to  be  too  small  may  be  supplemented  by  additional 
units  of  the  same  or  some  other  size  without  great  loss  in  the  first 
installation.  In  the  case  of  open  drains,  it  might  be  found  as  costly 
to  deepen  a  too  shallow  ditch  as  it  would  have  been  to  construct  it  of 
the  proper  depth  in  the  first  place. 

In  determining  the  number,  size,  location  and  design  of  pumping 
plants  in  the  Salt  River  Valley,  much  attention  was  given  to  securing 
preliminar}^  data.  Previous  observations  showed  that  during  the  five 
years  preceding  1919  there  had  been  an  average  rise  of  7.4  feet  in  the 
water  table  or  about  1.5  feet  a  year  over  an  area  of  approximately 
250,000  acres.  It  was  assumed  that  free  water  occupied  30  per  cent 
by  volume  of  the  1.5  feet  of  saturated  soil  over  this  area,  thus  giving 
an  annual  increment  of  112,500  acre  feet  of  water  to  the  valley.  This 
amount  together  with  22,000  acre  feet  removed  annually  by  pumps 
already  installed  showed  that  the  underground  waters  received  an 
annual  increment  of  134,000  acre  feet. 

Obviously,  artificial  drainage  must  be  provided  not  only  to  take 
care  of  the  annual  increase  but  also  to  lower  the  water  table  to  a  point 
beyond  the  reach  of  plant  roots.  It  was  estimated  that  for  the  first 
few  years  it  would  be  necessary  to  remove  annually  by  pumping  at 
least  200,000  acre  feet.  Experience  with  pumping  plants  already  in 
operation  in  this  area  indicated  that  the  desired  results  could  be 
accomplished  by  100  pumps  operating  300  days  a  year. 

Observations  made  in  1923  show  that  most  of  the  pumps  have  been 
installed,  and  that  the  above  assumptions  were  substantially  correct. 
Pumps  are  now  being  installed  in  certain  sections  of  this  valley  which 
at  first  were  not  considered  susceptible  of  drainage  by  this  method. 

In  the  Turlock,  Modesto  or  South  San  Joaquin  districts  the  amount 
of  water  necessary  to  be  pumped  was  not  determined  as  it  was  in  the 
Salt  River  Valley,  but  a  number  of  experimental  wells  installed  in 
1921-22  gave  considerable  data  on  the  effect  of  individual  pumps  on 


16 


UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 


the  water  table  surrounding  them.  From  data  thus  obtained,  the  size 
of  pump  required  for  any  particular  wet  area  was  decided  upon. 

In  these  districts  each  pump  has  a  specific  duty  to  perform,  namely 
the  lowering  of  the  water  table  on  a  specific  area,  whereas,  in  the  Salt 
River  Valley  and  to  a  certain  extent  at  Merced,  the  entire  system  is 
expected  to  operate  as  a  unit,  each  pump  assisting  toward  the  general 
drainage  of  the  area. 

The  estimated  combined  discharge  of  the  45  pumps  at  Turlock 
which  will  operate  throughout  the  irrigation  season  is  approximately 
100  cubic  feet  per  second.     The  thirty  pumps  in  the  Merced  district 


J/im     F£B.     A7jp.    App.     Afjy  Jom     Jul.      Aug.     Ssp     Oct     flo*      Dec 

Fig.  6. — Curves  showing  water  table  fluctuations  at  Kearney  Park,  1912  to 
1922.  Each  curve  is  made  up  from  the  average  of  weekly  readings  on  twenty-one 
observation  wells  which  covered  an  area  of  about  7000  acres.  Such  data  is  valuable 
in  determining  the  amount  of  water  to  be  removed  by  drainage. 

have  approximately  the  same  total  capacity  and  when  operated  nine 
months  a  year  will  have  a  total  discharge  of  about  50,000  acre  feet. 
During  the  first  year  or  two,  it  may  be  necessary  to  operate  the  pumps 
more  continuously  than  will  be  required  later  after  the  table  has  been 
lowered. 

During  1923,  a  system  of  pumping  plants  was  designed  for  the 
drainage  of  an  area  of  about  7000  acres  in  Fresno  County.  Observa- 
tions had  been  made  for  ten  years  previous  on  the  height  of  the  water 
table.  (See  fig.  6.)  From  the  curves  shown  in  the  figure  the  maxi- 
mum rate  of  rise  was  determined  and  an  estimate  made  of  the  quantity 
of  water  it  would  be  necessary  to  remove  in  order  to  counteract  it. 


BULLETIN  382]       PUMPING  FOR  DRAINAGE  IN  THE  SAN  JOAQUIN  VALLEY      17 

A  pumping  system  was  designed  of  sufficient  capacity  to  lower  the 
water  table  during  Sy2  months  of  continuous  pumping  to  such  a  depth 
that  during  the  non-pumping  period  of  3y2  months  it  would  not  rise 
to  a  point  closer  than  12  feet  from  the  surface.  Figure  7  shows  the 
theoretical  consideration  of  this  plan. 


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Fig.  7. — A  theoretical  consideration  of  the  effect  of  pumping  on  the  water 
table.  When  a  general  lowering  of  the  water  table  is  desired,  it  is  only  by  some 
similar  consideration  that  drainage  systems  can  be  designed  to  meet  a  predeter- 
mined ideal. 


In  this  design,  it  was  considered  necessarj'  to  give  the  pumps 
sufficient  capacity  to  overcome  the  lateral  movement  of  water  into  this 
comparatively  small  area  from  a  much  larger  area  where  the  water 
table  never  falls  below  7  or  8  feet  from  the  surface.  The  total  annual 
pumping  from  this  area  was  estimated  at  17,000  acre  feet  or  over 
three  acre  feet  per  acre  of  the  area  actually  drained. 


18  UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

On  the  Fresno  Sewer  Farm  on  an  area  of  500  acres,  nine  pumping 
plants  maintain  a  water  table  five  feet  below  the  surface,  although 
sewage  water  is  added  at  the  rate  of  1.5  acre  feet  per  acre  per  month 
or  18  acre  feet  per  acre  per  year.  The  nine  pumping  plants  operating 
continuously  discharge  19,700  acre  feet  per  year  or  about  twice  the 
amount  applied.  The  total  water  pumped  by  the  Fresno  city  water 
system  was  19,500  acre  feet  or  about  two  and  one-half  acre  feet  per 
acre.  As  the  amount  of  water  pumped  for  domestic  purposes  varies 
with  the  demand  there  is  considerable  difference  between  maximum 
and  minimum  requirements.  If  the  twenty-seven  pumps  were  con- 
tinuously operated  to  their  full  capacity,  they  would  have  more  effect 
on  the  water  table  than  is  shown  here. 

In  drainage  by  pumping,  as  with  other  systems,  the  amount  of 
water  which  it  is  necessary  to  remove  should  be  determined  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  insufficient  capacity  can  be  more  easily  remedied  with 
pumps  than  with  ditches.  When  the  amount  of  necessary  discharge 
has  been  determined,  the  number  of  pumps  required  can  be  decided 
upon  according  to  the  supply  that  can  be  secured  from  each  well,  the 
draw-down,  and  comparative  cost  of  operating  pumps  of  different 
sizes. 

LOCATION    OF   WELLS 

Different  methods  of  locating  the  wells  have  been  followed  in  the 
various  districts,  as  will  be  noted  in  studying  the  maps,  figures  8,  9 
and  10.  In  the  Modesto  and  Turlock  areas,  for  instance,  where  only 
local  lowering  of  the  water  table  was  desired  the  wells  were  located 
in  or  near  the  local  wet  areas.  The  wells  are  scattered  irregularly 
over  the  district  but  their  accessibility  from  the  highways  and  the 
convenience  of  an  outlet  for  the  pumped  water  were  taken  into  con- 
sideration. It  is  advisable,  unless  some  other  consideration  is  more 
important,  to  locate  a  well  so  that  it  can  be  conveniently  reached  by 
truck  or  repair  outfit  and  as  near  as  possible  to  the  point  of  discharge. 
(See  figure  1.) 

In  locating  the  wells  of  the  Merced  district  one  other  condition 
was  considered,  namely,  that  they  be  arranged  in  approximately 
parallel  lines  across  the  line  of  flow  of  the  underground  waters.  The 
map,  figure  10,  shows  that  there  are  roughly  three  parallel  lines  of 
wells,  one  jnsl  south  of  the  Santa  Fe  railroad,  one  south  of  the  South- 
ern Pacific  railroad,  and  a  third  still  farther  to  the  southwest.  The 
lines  are  from  two  to  three  miles  apart  and  the  wells  average  some- 


BULLETIN  382]       PUMPING  FOR  DRAINAGE  IN  THE  SAN  JOAQUIN  VALLEY      19 


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Fig.  8. — Map  of  Turlock  Irrigation  District  showing  the  location  of  the  drain- 
age pumping  plans. 


P.7E. 


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P  9  E 


P.  10  E. 


V^/T 


•  =  Om«/*Hfff  tm.c 


Fig.  9. — Map  of  Modesto  Irrigation  District  showing  the  location  of  the  drain- 
age pumping  plants. 


20 


UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 


what  less  than  a  mile  apart  in  the  lines.  In  this  district,  accessibility, 
proximity  to  outlet  and  proximity  to  local  wet  areas  were  also  con- 
sidered in  determining  the  exact  location  of  each  well. 

In  the  Salt  River  Valley,  a  plan  of  location  similar  to  that  at 
Merced  was  followed.  The  wells  were  placed  in  parallel  lines  across 
the  line  of  underground  water  movement,  but  nevertheless  in  those 


rue. 


R.  12  E. 


R.I3E 


R.  14- E. 


(?.  15  E. 


Fig.  10. — Map  of  Merced  Irrigation  District  showing  the  location  of  the  drain- 
age pumping  plants. 


areas  in  most  need  of  drainage.  In  this  district  the  wells  were  located 
rather  regularly,  one  mile  apart  in  the  lines,  almost  every  well  being 
located  at  a  section  corner. 

It  would  appear  that  a  uniform  spacing  along  definite  lines  would 
be  more  practical  in  areas  where  the  depth  to  ground  water  is  more 
uniform  than  in  areas  like  that  at  Turlock  where  there  is  considerable 
difference  in  the  depth  to  water  table  on  adjacent  properties. 

Locating  wells  in  parallel  lines  across  the  slope  of  the  ground 
water  table  to  intercept  the  water  in  its  line  of  flow  before  it  has 
reached  the  lower  lands  follows  well  established  practice  in  the  loca- 
tion of  open  or  tile  drains. 


BULLETIN  382]       PUMPING  FOR  DRAINAGE  IN  THE  SAN  JOAQUIN  VALLEY      21 


DEPTH   OF  WELL 

There  is  a  considerable  amount  of  variation  in  the  depth  of  wells, 
even  on  adjacent  tracts  of  land,  due  partly  to  the  necessity  for  obtain- 
ing the  required  capacity. 

Although  only  a  very  limited  number  of  well  logs  are  recorded 
in  figures  3,  4  and  5  the  influence  of  the  character  of  the  profile  is 
shown  by  the  great  variation  in  depth.  In  the  Modesto  district  where 
the  average  amount  of  water  pumped  is  from  800  to  1000  gallons  per 
minute,  and  where  the  second  stratum  of  gravel  will  supply  this 
amount,  the  average  depth  of  well  is  80  to  90  feet.  A  few  wells  were 
drilled  to  the  third  stratum,  which  for  this  district  averages  120  feet 
in  depth. 

In  the  Turlock  area  where  the  average  size  of  the  pumps  is  only 
slightly  larger,  the  average  depth  of  well  is  about  100  feet.  Here,  as 
at  Modesto,  most  of  the  wells  extend  into  the  second  stratum  of  gravel. 
At  Merced  the  pumping  plants  are  still  larger,  the  average  delivery 
being  about  1400  gallons  per  minute.  In  this  district  practically  all 
of  the  pumping  is  from  the  third  stratum  of  gravel,  which  here  lies  at 
an  average  depth  of  150  feet,  although  at  least  one  well  extends  to  a 
depth  of  250  feet.  It  is  said  that  in  this  area  a  satisfactory  flow  can 
be  expected  at  any  depth  below  120  feet.  On  the  Fresno  Sewer  Farm, 
the  average  depth  of  well  is  more  than  200  feet,  the  deepest  being  in 
excess  of  300  feet.  In  the  city  of  Fresno,  the  best  supply  of  water 
is  obtained  at  about  150  feet. 

The  cost  of  drilling  and  casing  deep  wells  being  much  greater  than 
that  of  shallow  wells,  there  is  obviously  no  reason  to  go  deeper  than 
is  necessary  to  supply  the  requisite  amount  of  water.  It  may  be  con- 
cluded in  a  general  way  that  wells  producing  about  two  cubic  feet 
per  second  can  be  obtained  by  pumping  from  the  second  gravel 
stratum,  which  lies  at  a  depth  of  about  100  feet  or  less,  whereas  if 
three  cubic  feet  per  second  or  more  is  desired,  it  is  necessary  to  go  to 
the  third  stratum  at  a  depth  of  150  to  200  feet.  Although  there  are 
many  exceptions,  there  is  apparently  a  tendency  for  the  depth  to 
increase  slightly  toward  the  southern  end  of  the  valley. 

SIZE    OF    WELL 

The  diameter  of  the  well  in  conjunction  with  the  depth,  is  de- 
pendent largely  upon  the  quantity  of  water  desired  and  the  design 
of  the  particular  pumping  unit.  Well  diameters  are  therefore  made 
to  comply  with  the  size  of  pump  probably  required. 


22  UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

In  the  Modesto  district,  most  of  the  wells  are  12  or  14  inches  in 
diameter,  while  the  common  size  at  Turlock  is  16  inches  and  at  Merced 
20  inches.  All  of  the  Fresno  Sewer  Farm  wells  are  16  inches  in 
diameter.  The  16-inch  well  appears  to  be  the  most  popular  size  and 
is  probably  large  enough  for  wells. delivering  up  to  about  2000  gallons 
per  minute.  The  cost  of  drilling  and  casing  increases  rapidly  with 
the  diameter  of  the  well,  making  it  desirable  to  avoid  unnecessarily 
large  wells.  If,  however,  in  order  to  obtain  a  predetermined  quantity 
of  water  or  drawdown  it  is  necessary  to  install  a  pump  having  a  lower 
"over  all"  efficiency  than  would  have  been  necessary  had  the  well 
been  larger,  there  is  obviously  no  economy  in  the  smaller  well. 


WELL   CASINGS 

In  order  to  prevent  caving  and  loss  of  the  well  after  pumping  is 
started,  wells  are  cased  with  steel  casing.  The  practice  with  drainage 
wells  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  has  not  been  materially  different  from 
that  used  for  irrigation  wells  in  the  same  immediate  vicinity.  Stove- 
pipe casing  consisting  of  2-foot  sections  riveted  longitudinally,  which 
fit  together  like  a  stovepipe,  are  used  "double"  for  all  of  the  larger 
and  deeper  wells  and  "single"  for  a  few  shallow  wells.  When  used 
double  the  inner  section  is  slightly  smaller  than  the  outside  and  is  so 
placed  that  the  joints  between  the  inside  and  outside  are  staggered. 
Often  the  two  sections  are  dented  with  a  pick  to  prevent  slipping. 

The  practice  with  drainage  wells  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  is  to 
use  an  unperforated  casing  driven  to  the  top  of  the  hard  layer  next 
above  the  sand  or  gravel  strata  from  which  it  is  desired  to  pump, 
forming  what  is  known  as  the  "open  bottom"  well.  The  hole  is 
drilled  slightly  smaller  than  the  outside  diameter  of  the  casing  and 
is  reamed  out,  when  the  material  is  hard,  just  before  the  casing  is 
driven.  The  final  landing  is  not  reamed  so  that  the  casing  rests  upon 
a  thin  shelf.  This  shelf  or  landing  together  with  the  friction  against 
the  walls  of  the  drill  hole  is  depended  upon  to  hold  the  casing  in 
place.  The  bottom  of  the  well  being  uncased,  the  movement  of  water 
through  the  last  pervious  stratum  is  unhampered.  When  this  last 
stratum  is  sand,  it  is  usual  to  pump  it  out  until  there  is  no  longer  a 
flow  of  sand  into  the  well.  Thus  there  is  often  a  considerable  cavity 
or  reservoir  below  the  casing. 

The  open  bottom  well,  although  common  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley 
for  bolli  drainage  and  irrigation,  is  not  the  typo  used  in  deep  well 
•  •'instruct ion    elsewhere    and    by    some    engineers    is    not    considered 


BULLETIN  382]       PUMPING  FOR  DRAINAGE  IN  THE  SAN  JOAQUIN  VALLEY      23 

entirely  reliable.  There  is  a  tendency  in  some  localities  for  the  cavity 
or  reservoir  at  the  bottom  of  the  well  to  become  so  large  that  the 
stratum  on  which  the  casing  is  landed  breaks  down,  thus  permitting 
the  casing  to  settle  and  an  obstruction  in  the  well  may  result.  This 
difficulty  has  been  experienced  with  several  of  the  Merced  wells  and 
is  due  probably  to  the  removal  of  a  great  amount  of  sand  in  the  process 
of  developing  the  well  with  a  pump  of  large  capacity.  The  actual 
breaking  down  of  the  landing  or  at  least  the  visible  evidence  of  break- 
ing did  not  occur  until  some  time  after  the  pumps  were  in  operation. 
In  each  case  considerable  loss  in  time  and  money  was  entailed. 


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Fig.  11. — Typical  test  well  chart.  For  a  drainage  well,  a  minimum  drawdown 
is  essential.  For  this  particular  well  in  order  to  get  a  drawdown  of  30  feet,  it 
will  be  necessary  to  pump  about  1450  gallons  per  minute. 


Trouble  of  this  nature  can  undoubtedly  be  overcome  by  installing 
a  fully  cased  or  closed  bottom  well  instead  of  an  open  bottom  well. 
This  has  been  done  on  the  Fresno  Sewer  Farm  and  is  the  usual  prac- 
tice for  irrigation  wells  in  most  parts  of  the  state. 

With  a  fully  cased  well,  it  is  necessary  to  penetrate  far  enough  into 
the  water  bearing  strata  for  the  required  flow  to  be  obtained  through 
the  perforations  in  the  casing.  On  the  Fresno  Sewer  Farm,  the  wells 
are  cased  their  entire  depth,  the  lower  100  feet  being  perforated.  In 
many  wells  of  similar  type  the  casings  are  perforated  or  slit  after 
being  placed.  In  such  instances  perforations  are  made  only  at  points 
where  the  well  logs  show  porous  strata. 


24 


UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 


DEVELOPMENT    AND    TESTING    OF    WELL 

As  soon  as  a  well  is  drilled,  it  should  be  developed  and  tested  in 
order  first,  to  see  if  it  is  satisfactory,  and  second,  to  determine  the 
most  economical  pump  and  motor  with  which  to  equip  it.  Although 
the  testing  of  a  well  is  frequently  neglected,  especially  by  persons 
requiring  only  one  or  two  wells,  the  practice  has  been  quite  generally 
followed  by  those  interested  in  drainage  pumps. 

The  testing  consists  of  temporarily  installing  a  pump  whose 
maximum  capacity  is  in  excess  of  the  anticipated  capacity  of  the  well 


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Fig.  12. — Typical  pump  efficiency  test  curves.  When  pump  makers  have  the 
exact  requirements  to  be  met,  they  can  design  a  pump  to  fulfil  them.  The  above 
chart  shows  that  this  particular  pump  has  an  efficiency  of  72  per  cent  when 
delivering  1450  gallons  per  minute  against  a  head  of  35  feet  and  18  h.p.  of  energy 
is  required. 

and  of  operating  this  at  varying  speeds  in  order  to  determine  the 
maximum  capacity  of  the  well,  the  relation  of  power  consumed  to  the 
different  discharges,  and  the  relation  between  drawdown  in  the  well 
and  the  effect  upon  the  surrounding  ground  water  table,  the  power 
and  the  discharge.  Figure  11  shows  a  typical  test  chart.  With  these 
data  at  hand,  it  is  possible  to  specify  the  quantity  of  water  to  be 
pumped  and  head  against  which  it  is  to  be  pumped.  From  these  data, 
the  manufacturer  can  design  a  pump  with  a  motor  of  such  size  and 
speed  that  the  plant  will  have  the  highest  efficiency.     (See  fig.  12.) 

Incidentally  to  the  testing  of  the  well,  it  is  developed.  This  estab- 
lishes the  normal  flow  and  removes  considerable  sand,  materially 
lessening  the  danger  of  "sanding  up"  after  final  installation. 


BULLETIN  382]       PUMPING  FOR  DRAINAGE  IN  THE  SAN  JOAQUIN  VALLEY      25 

Occasionally  upon  being  tested,  a  well  proves  to  be  unsatisfactory. 
It  can  then  be  either  deepened  or  abandoned  as  the  conditions  warrant. 
In  the  Salt  River  area,  drainage  wells  were  abandoned  and  new  ones 
drilled  when  upon  test  they  did  not  deliver  1000  gallons  per  minute 
with  a  drawdown  of  40  feet. 

In  order  to  be  most  successful  as  a  drainage  well  its  maximum 
capacity  should  be  reached  at  the  required  drawdown.  It  is  easily 
possible  to  obtain  a  well  having  a  maximum  drawdown  which  would 
have  almost  no  effect  upon  the  water  table  because  the  quantity  of 
water  removed  was  so  small.  On  the  other  hand,  the  quantity  of 
water  pumped  might  be  large,  but  the  drawdown  so  small  that  the 
water  table  would  be  likewise  unaffected. 

CAPACITY    OF    PUMPING    UNIT 

As  has  already  been  indicated,  the  amount  of  discharge  for  which 
any  given  well  or  series  of  wells  should  be  designed  depends  largely 
upon  the  results  desired.  Obviously,  with  an  equal  quantity  of  water 
to  be  drawn  from,  the  greater  the  quantity  pumped,  the  greater  will 
be  the  effect  upon  the  surrounding  water  table.  It  has  been  this  con- 
sideration more  than  any  other  which  has  determined  the  size  and 
capacity  of  the  pumps  in  the  various  areas  drained  by  the  pumping 
method. 

In  the  Salt  River  Valley,  for  instance,  it  was  determined  by 
experiment  that  wells  having  a  minimum  capacity  of  about  1000 
gallons  per  minute  and  a  drawdown  of  20  to  40  feet  had  a  certain 
effect  on  the  water  table.  Other  wells  having  a  greater  capacity  for 
a  similar  drawdown  had  a  similar  effect.  As  it  was  desirable  to  create 
a  drawdown  of  about  40  feet,  pumps  were  designed  to  meet  this 
requirement.  The  average  drainage  pump  in  this  area  discharges 
about  1400  gallons  per  minute  and  materially  affects  the  water  table 
for  a  radius  of  about  half  a  mile.  It  should  be  repeated  here  that 
the  Salt  River  Valley  plants  are  expected  to  function  collectively  and 
not  as  individual  pumps. 

There  is  no  ideal  unit  suitable  for  all  cases.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
a  recently  installed  pump  in  the  Salt  River  Valley  has  a  discharge  of 
5600  gallons  per  minute,  while  pumping  against  a  total  head  of  32% 
feet. 

In  the  Merced  district,  the  smallest  plant  discharges  about  1000 
gallons  per  minute  and  the  largest  between  1800  and  2000  gallons  per 
minute.  Some  of  the  wells  at  Merced  developed  under  test  a  capacity 
of  more  than  2500  gallons  per  minute  with  a  drawdown  not  incon- 


26 


UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 


sistent  with  economical  pumping.  One  pump  is  being  operated  under 
a  maximum  drawdown  of  about  70  feet.  The  average  delivery,  how- 
ever, is  about  1400  gallons  per  minute  with  a  drawdown  of  40  feet, 
and  the  effect  on  the  water  table  is  noticeable  almost  a  mile  away. 
Here  again,  however,  it  is  not  possible  to  judge  properly  the  effect  of 
an  individual  •  pump  by  the  combined  effect  of  a  number  of  plants 
working  in  unison. 


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Fig'.  13. — Cone  of  depression  in  water  table  under  pumping.  This  chart  shows 
the  effect  of  pumping  from  a  single  well  at  Kearney  Park.  After  three  weeks' 
continuous  pumping,  the  water  table  has  been  lowered  for  more  than  2000  feet 
in  all  directions.  The  pump  was  discharging  1550  gallons  per  minute  against 
a  total  head  of  25  feet. 


In  determining  the  number  of  pumps  necessary  for  the  drainage 
of  the  Merced  district,  the  assumption  was  made,  as  the  result  of  a  few 
tests  on  experimental  pumps,  that  the  average  discharge  would  be 
1400  gallons  per  minute  at  a  drawdown  of  40  feet.  A  pump  of  aver- 
age size  under  the  average  conditions  requires  a  25  h.p.  motor. 

Tn  the  Tnrlock  district,  the  smallest  pump  discharges  about  500 
gallons  per  minute,  while  the  larger  ones  run  up  as  high  as  1400  or 
1600  gallons  per  minute.  The  discharge  of  the  average  pump,  how- 
ever, is  about  1000  gallons  per  minute  when  working  under  a  head 
of  about  20  feet.    Such  a  pump  requires  a  motor  of  10  to  12  h.p. 


BULLETIN  382]       PUMPING  FOR  DRAINAGE  IN  THE  SAN  JOAQUIN  VALLEY      27 

In  the  Modesto  district,  even  smaller  pumps  are  used,  the  average 
being  about  850  gallons  per  minute  under  a  15  foot  drawdown  which 
requires  a  motor  developing  iy2  to  10  h.p. 

Wells  which  will  discharge  1400  gallons  per  minute  with  a  draw- 
down of  less  than  40  feet  can  be  obtained  almost  anywhere  in  the 


Fig.  14. — Drainage  pumping  plant  at  Delhi.  The  head  above  ground  against 
which  it  is  necessary  to  pump  in  order  to  secure  an  outlet  is  indicated  by  the 
height  of  the  stand-pipe.  This  pump  drained  the  pond  shown  in  figure  16.  The 
well  is  196  feet  deep,  16  inches  in  diameter  and  a  30  h.p.  motor  is  required  to 
discharge  1200  gallons  per  minute. 


28 


UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 


poorly  drained  area.  The  pumps  on  the  Fresno  Sewer  Farm  have  an 
average  discharge  of  1450  gallons  per  minute  with  a  drawdown  of 
about  20  feet  and  require  15  h.p.  motors  for  their  operation. 

It  has  been  already  noted,  that  the  area  affected  by  the  Turlock 
and  Modesto  pumps  is  not  nearly  so  great  as  that  affected  by  those  at 
Merced  and  that  frequently  no  effect  is  noted  at  points  midway 
between  pumps.  In  these  areas  each  pump  is  expected  to  lower 
the  water  table  in  the  area  immediately  surrounding  it  and  in  this 
respect  is  independent  of  the  others.  Fig-ure  13  shows  the  effect  of  a 
single  well  near  Fresno  which  had  been  pumping  continuously  for 
about  three  weeks. 


Fig.   15. — Drainage  pump   at  Merced.     Frequently  the  drainage  water  is  dis- 
charged directly  into  a  pressure  pipe  line  and  used  for  irrigation. 


At  a  few  of  the  pumping  plants  where  the  pumps  are  located  in 
depressions  and  the  water  discharged  into  pipe  lines  or  ditches  on  the 
ridges,  it  is  necessary  to  raise  the  water  several  feet  above  the  ground 
surface.  This  additional  lift  of  course  decreases  the  amount  of  water 
pumped  per  unit  of  power.  An  example  of  this  is  shown  in  figure  14. 
The  tall  standpipe  is  indicative  of  the  height  to  which  the  water  is 
lifted  above  the  ground.  In  other  instances,  figure  15,  the  water  is 
pumped  through  closed  pressure  lines  without  a  standpipe. 

The  rapidity  with  which  individual  pumping  plants  will  lower  the 
water  table  is  shown  in  figures  16  and  17.  The  pumping  plant  shown 
in  figure  14  is  located  in  this  area. 


BULLETIN  382]       PUMPING  FOR  DRAINAGE  IN  THE  SAN  JOAQUIN  VALLEY      29 


LENGTH    OF   PUMPING    SEASON 

The  length  of  time  which  it  will  be  necessary  to  keep  the  pumps 
in  operation  each  year  depends  upon  whether  or  not  damage  will 
result  from  allowing  the  water  to  rise  into  the  root  zone.  This  in 
turn  depends  upon  the  nature  of  the  crops  grown.  In  the  case  of 
trees,  alfalfa  or  other  permanent  crops,  water  should  not  be  allowed 
to  stand  around  the  roots  at  any  time  of  the  year,  whereas  on  land 
used  for  beans  or  similar  crops,  it  may  not  be  injurious  to  permit  it 
to  stand  even  upon  the  surface  during  the  non-growing  season. 

In  some  sections,  pumping  will  be  discontinued  after  the  irrigation 
season  and  harvest  is  past  and  the  ground  waters  will  be  permitted 
to  rise.  This  rise  will  depend  in  both  rapidity  and  magnitude  on  the 
depth  to  which  the  water  table  was  pumped,  its  relative  elevation  in 
regard  to  the  water  table  on  surrounding  areas,  and  the  season  of  the 
year.  If  the  table  is  lowered  locally  to  considerable  depths  below  the 
surrounding  water,  the  readjustment  will  be  rapid,  although  there  is 
normally  a  general  recession  in  the  height  of  water  after  the  close 
of  the  irrigating  season. 

In  some  areas,  it  will  be  desirable  to  pump  to  such  a  depth  and 
to  affect  the  water  table  over  such  large  areas  that  the  readjustment 
cannot  fully  take  place  during  the  interim  between  pumping  seasons. 
The  larger  the  area  affected  by  pumping,  the  slower  will  be  the  read- 
justment and  in  certain  cases  where  the  pumped  area  is  a  considerable 
proportion  of  the  contributing  area,  the  water  table  may  not  rise 
appreciably  until  the  beginning  of  a  new  irrigation  season  when 
through  seepage  and  deep  percolation  the  supply  is  replenished. 

In  the  Salt  River  Valley,  it  has  been  anticipated  that  continuous 
pumping  would  be  required  for  300  days  a  year.  At  Merced  270  days 
was  thought  to  be  sufficient,  while  at  Fresno  in  the  proposed  drainage 
plan  for  the  Kearney  Vineyard  255  days  was  estimated.  Figure  7 
shows  the  theoretical  considerations  on  which  the  pumping  period  was 
estimated.  Where  the  drainage  discharge  is  made  into  irrigation 
canals  or  pipe  lines,  it  will  be  most  desirable  to  make  the  drainage 
pumping  season  coincide  with  the  irrigation  season.  This  is  especially 
true  if  the  discharge  is  into  unlined  sections  of  canals  where  the  small 
amount  of  water  pumped  may  be  again  returned  to  the  ground  water 
by  seepage  if  carried  for  any  great  distance.  In  general  the  beginning 
of  the  pumping  season  should  coincide  with  the  beginning  of  the  irri- 
gation season  and  continue  until  the  end  of  irrigation  and  in  some 
instances  extend  beyond  it. 


30 


UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 


PUMPS,    MOTORS  AND   OTHER   EQUIPMENT 

Pumps  of  various  manufacture  are  used  in  drainage  work,  but  the 
type  is  practically  the  same  in  all  districts,  namely,  a  "low  duty  deep 
well  turbine ' '  with  direct  connected  motor.  Figure  18  shows  a  pump 
and  motor  typical  of  those  now  in  operation  in  the  San  Joaquin 
Valley. 

The  most  modern  installations  are  equipped  with  mechanical  force 
feed  oil  pumps  which  insure  complete  lubrication  of  pump  and  motor 
for  a  week  or  more  without  replenishing  the  oil  supply.     The  switch- 


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boards  are  complete  with  automatic  starting  devices,  "time  delays'1 
and  similar  equipment.  The  "time  delay"  is  a  device  for  delaying 
the  restarting  of  the  motor  after  a  power  interruption  until  the  pump 
and  motor  have  come  to  complete  rest,  thus  eliminating  the  danger 
which  might  be  caused  by  a  sudden  application  of  power  while  the 
pump  was  runing  in  the  reverse  direction  due  to  back  flow  in  the 
discharge  line.  Such  special  equipment  on  the  switchboard,  pump 
and  motor  reduces  the  supervision  necessary  for  continuous  operation 
and  one  man  can  take  care  of  30  or  40  pumps  thus  equipped  if  they 
are  so  located  that  he  can  reach  them  at  least  once  a  week.  It  is  not 
advisable,  however,  to  inspect  pumps  at  such  infrequent  intervals,  and 
better  service  can  be  expected  if  they  are  cared  for  at  least  once  in 
two  days. 


Bulletin  382]      pumping  FOR  DRAINAGE  IN  THE  SAN  JOAQUIN  VALLEY      31 


HOUSING,     FOUNDATIONS    AND    DISCHARGE    LINES 

The  installation  of  drainage  pumping  plants  has  generally  been 
made  with  the  idea  of  permanency,  using  concrete  foundations  for  the 
pump  and  motor  and  concrete  floors  in  the  pump  houses. 

Where  the  pumps  discharge  directly  into  ditches  or  canals,  the 
discharge  lines  are  of  cast  iron  (see  fig.  1),  but  wherever  the  outlet  is 
at  a.  distance  from  the  pump,  concrete  pipe  lines  are  used.  When  the 
discharge  line  is  to  be  under  pressure,  it  is  equipped  with  both  auto- 
matic and  hand  operated  valves,  according  to  the  length  of  the  dis- 


Fig.  17. — Same  view  as  shown  in  figure  16.  Taken  October  6,  1923.  Twenty- 
three  days  of  continuous  pumping  by  the  plant  shown  in  figure  14  lowered  the 
water  table  below  the  ground  surface. 


charge  line  and  the  pressure.  Figure  14  shows  the  type  of  standpipe 
and  surge  chamber  used  in  certain  high  pressure  lines  on  the  Delhi 
Colony,  and  in  figure  15  the  pressure  chambers  containing  the  gates 
can  be  seen. 

The  housing  of  the  pumping  equipment  has  been  a  matter  to  which 
considerable  attention  has  been  given.  In  the  first  installations,  nearly 
all  of  the  pump  houses  were  of  wood  or  of  wooden  framing  covered 
with  corrugated  iron.  This  type  of  house  is  now  being  replaced  by 
an  all  metal  portable  house  of  stock  design.  (See  figures  1,  14  and 
15.)  Two  sizes,  6  by  6  feet  and  7  by  7  feet,  are  available  in  the  market 
and  are  delivered  to  the  site  of  erection  in  "knock  down"  form.  They 
are  fastened  to  anchor  bolts  set  in  the  concrete  flooring.  In  some  cases, 
one  wall  of  the  house  is  made  stationary  by  having  the  switchboard 
attached,  while  in  other  cases  the  switchboard  is  supported  by  posts 


32 


UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 


ixr 


*\ 


***T     WJLMM%~ n^ 


^SiiiiWi1!!::^^^ 


sT" 


PARTS 

6— Gland  53- 

7 — Packing  54- 

8 — Discharge  head  55- 

11 — Oil  line  to  pump  56- 

12— Column    shaft  57- 

13 — Shaft  coupling  58- 

14 — Column  casing  59- 

17— Packing  60- 
18 — Bottom  column  flange    61- 

24— Shaft  nut  52- 

27 — Inlet  case  63- 

29 — Suction  casing  64- 

37 — Packing  nut  65- 

38— Sand  Shield  68- 

39 — Top  column  flange  69- 

40 — Discharge  casing  7.1- 

41 — Discharge  flange  73- 

50 — Vertical  motor  74- 

51— Motor  shaft  75- 
52 — Key  for  collar 


-Starting  collar 

-Armor  sleeve 

-Packing  bearing 

-Packing 

-Packing  nut 

-Armor  lock  nut 

-Shaft  coupling 

-Shaft  spacer  bottom 

-Spider  sand  shield 

-Packing  nut 

-Packing 

-Column  flange 

-Spider 

-Pump  shaft 

-Diffusor  bushing 

-Packing  nut 

-Oil  pump 

-Diffusor 

-Impeller 


Pig.    18. — Single  stage  turbine  for  low  head  duty  and  driving  unit  typical  of 
those  used  for  drainage  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley. 


BULLETIN  382]       PUMPING  FOR  DRAINAGE  IN  THE  SAN  JOAQUIN  VALLEY      33 

set  in  the  foundation  floor.  In  the  latter  case,  the  house  can  be 
removed  entirely  without  dismantling,  to  facilitate  work  about  the 
pump.  Few  installations  are  provided  with  a  stationary  tower  for 
"pulling"  the  pump,  but  depend  rather  upon  a  portable  "A"  frame 
carried  by  an  especially  equipped  service  automobile.  The  portable 
or  the  collapsible  metal  house  has  many  advantages  over  the  station- 
ary wooden  building,  among  them  convenience,  fire  resistance,  and 
reduced  maintenance.  Fire  protection  not  only  to  the  house  but  also 
to  the  motor  and  switchboard  is  worthy  of  special  consideration. 

COSTS 

The  cost  of  drainage  by  pumping  like  that  by  any  other  method 
must  necessarily  vary  with  local  conditions  and  particularly  with 
regard  to  the  thoroughness  with  which  drainage  is  accomplished. 
This  in  turn  depends  upon  the  number,  depth  and  size  of  wells  and 
the  head  against  which  it  is  necessary  to  pump.  This  type  of  drainage 
differs  from  the  ordinary  tile  or  open  ditch  drainage  in  that  besides 
the  usual  installation  and  maintenance  cost,  there  is  also  an  operation 
cost,  and  it  is  this  last  item  that,  taking  all  other  factors  into  consider- 
ation, will  determine  the  feasibility  of  pumping  over  other  types  of 
drainage. 

In  the  Turlock  district,  the  total  cost  of  installing  a  plant  averaged 
from  $1200  to  $1500.  This  included  all  costs  of  well,  equipment, 
switchboard,  installation,  and  except  for  power  lines,  a  plant  ready 
for  operation.  At  Turlock  the  district  owns  its  power  and  therefore 
installed  the  power  lines.  It  should  be  remembered  that  in  this  area, 
the  pumping  unit  is  much  smaller  than  in  some  other  sections. 

The  pumping  plants  at  the  Fresno  Sewer  Farm  cost  complete  and 
ready  for  operation  between  $3000  and  $3500  each.  At  Merced,  where 
the  unit  is  larger,  the  cost  was  $3500  to  $4000. 

The  approximate  cost  of  two  typical  San  Joaquin  Valley  installa- 
tions is  shown  below.  The  amounts  given  under  each  item  are,  how- 
ever, not  strictly  comparable  for  the  two  districts. 

Item                                                       Turlock  Merced 

Drilling  well  $225*  $9002 

Casing    2251  4002 

Pump  500  1,000 

Motor  250  450 

Testing    50  250 

Switchboard    3  200 

House,   foundations,   etc 100  200 

Incidentals    150  300 

Total $1,5004  $3,700 

(See  notes  on  bottom  of  page  34.) 


34  UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

It  is  the  general  consensus  of  opinion  among  engineers  with  experi- 
ence in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  that  under  present  price  conditions 
the  smaller  units  similar  to  those  at  Turlock  and  Modesto  can  be  com- 
pletely installed  for  about  $1200  to  $1500,  while  the  larger  units 
should  not  cost  to  exceed  $4000. 

The  maintenance  and  depreciation  cost  will  vary  somewhat  with 
the  size  of  the  plant,  type  of  installation  and  to  some  extent  with  the 
make  of  pump  and  the  number  of  pumps  that  can  be  looked  after  by 
one  man.  Repairs  and  depreciation  should  not  exceed  5  per  cent  to 
7  per  cent  a  year  on  the  first  cost. 

Operation  or  power  costs  will  vary  with  the  size  of  motor,  head, 
length  of  pumping  season  and  efficiency  of  the  plant.  In  the  San 
Joaquin  Valley,  it  will  also  vary  with  the  district  because  power  in 
some  will  be  purchased  from  public  utility  companies,  while  others 
will  have  their  own  power  which  has  been  developed  incident  to  water 
storage. 

The  commercial  rates  (1924)  for  agricultural  power  service  are 
about  as  follows : 

Annual  consumption 

per  Ji.p.  5-14  15-49 

First  1000  k.w.h 1.4c  1.4c 

Next   1000  k.w.h 0.9c  0.9c 

Next   1000  k.w.h 0.7c  0.7c 

All  over  3000  k.w.h 0.6c  0.6c 

Annual    demand    charge    per   h.p.    of 

connected  load $6.00  $5.00 

A  25  h.p.  motor  operating  under  normal  load  for  8i/2  months 
(6120  hours)  will  require  114,000  k.w.  of  energy.  At  the  above  rates 
the  power  bill  would  be  $696  plus  a  demand  charge  of  $125  or  a  total 
of  $821  per  year. 

Estimates  made  for  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  in  which  pumping 
costs  are  compared  with  open  ditch  or  tile  drainage  of  the  same 
efficiency,  indicate  that  the  installation  or  first  costs  of  pumps  is  from 


Notes : 

1  Turlock  well  125  feet  deep,  16  inches  in  diameter.  Unit  cost  of  drilling  $1.50 
per  foot,  of  casing  $1.50  per  foot.     Average  pump  capacity,  1000  g.p.m. 

'  Merced  well  200  feet  dec]),  20  inches  in  diameter.  Unit  cost  of  drilling  $4.50 
per  foot,  of  casing  $2.00  per  foot.     Average  pump  capacity,  1400  g.p.m. 

[ncluded  in  power  installation. 
4  At   Turlock,  the  district   owns  and    installs  its  power  lines,  which  cost   about 
$1200   a   mile. 
At    Merced,  power  is  purchased   from  :i   public  utility  corporation  which  pays 
\'<>v  bringing  power  to  the  point  of  consumption. 


BULLETIN  382]       PUMPING  FOR  DRAINAGE  IN  THE  SAN  JOAQUIN  VALLEY      35 

ten  to  twenty  per  cent  that  of  tile  or  open  drains.  Upkeep  and  depre- 
ciation will  run  approximately  the  same  percentage  of  first  cost,  5 
per  cent  to  7  per  cent  per  annum,  in  each  case.  In  other  words,  at 
the  end  of  a  twenty  year  period  amounts  about  equal  to  the  original 
cost  will  have  been  spent  in  replacements  and  maintenance.  In  the 
case  of  pumping,  however,  there  is  the  operation  cost  which  does  not 
occur  with  other  types  of  drainage  and  this  may  run  from  30  per  cent 
to  50  per  cent  of  the  first  cost  per  annum.  It  will  be  seen  therefore 
that  at  the  end  of  a  certain  period  which  can  be  reasonably  well  deter- 
mined for  any  particular  system,  pumping  will  have  cost  as  much 
per  acre  as  other  types  of  drainage.  This,  however,  does  not  consider 
the  difference  in  interest  charges  on  a  large  and  comparatively  small 
initial  investment.  Operation  and  maintenance  charges  should  in 
either  case  be  paid  from  current  funds  and  interest  on  such  money 
should  not  be  charged  against  the  cost  of  operation. 

USE   OF   DRAINAGE   WATER 

When  drainage  is  secured  by  tile  or  open  drains  the  water  is  usually 
not  considered  valuable  and  is  allowed  to  waste  into  the  rivers.  With 
pumping,  however,  there  is  a  tendency  to  put  as  much  of  this  water  to 
beneficial  use  as  possible.  This  is  undoubtedly  due  to  two  factors,  first, 
that  it  is  usually  in  a  more  convenient  location  and  more  readily 
diverted  to  land  needing  irrigation,  and  second,  that  putting  the  water 
to  beneficial  use  offers  a  means  of  reducing  the  ever  present  operation 
cost. 

In  many  cases  it  is  possible  that  all  drainage  water  pumped  during 
the  irrigating  season  can  be  disposed  of  at  a  cost  at  least  equal  to  the 
pumping  charge.  In  this  way,  drainage  can  be  secured  at  the  cost  of 
off  season  pumping  plus  the  construction  charge. 

One  of  the  defects  in  the  present  gravity  systems  of  irrigation 
where  storage  is  not  available,  is  the  possibility  of  a  shortage  of  late 
season  water.  Drainage  water  pumped  after  the  exhaustion  of  the 
normal  irrigation  suppty  then  becomes  of  considerable  economic  im- 
portance. 

There  is  still  much  land  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  for  which  there 
is  no  available  gravity  supply  of  irrigation  water.  Pumped  drainage 
water  can  therefore  be  used  to  extend  the  irrigated  area  and  the  cost 
can  be  equalized  between  drainage  and  irrigation  to  the  advantage  of 
both.  Figure  1  shows  drainage  water  being  pumped  directly  into 
an  irrigation  canal.    A  prominent  engineer  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley 


36  UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

is  credited  with,  the  statement  that  "Irrigation  in  the  San  Joaquin 
Valley  is  dependent  for  its  ultimate  solution  upon  the  maximum  use 
of  all  underground  waters  and  that  no  irrigation  district  has  the  right 
to  allow  a  water  table  to  rise  to  a  height  greater  than  that  from  which 
it  can  economically  pump. ' '  Such  a  use  of  underground  waters  would, 
of  course,  automatically  solve  the  drainage  problem. 

According  to  another  engineer  storage  water  will  eventually  become 
so  valuable  that  it  can  be  used  as  a  source  of  gravity  irrigation  supply 
only  after  it  has  been  used  to  the  limit  for  power  and  that  the  power 
so  developed  can  be  used  for  pumping  water,  which  will  have  the 
two-fold  purpose  of  supplying  irrigation  and  preventing  a  rise  in  the 
water  table. 

Pumped  drainage  water  is  as  suitable  for  irrigation  as  any  pumped 
water  because  it  is  taken  from  the  same  strata  and  under  the  same 
conditions  as  pumped  irrigation  water.  It  has  the  advantage  in  that 
the  ground  water  is  being  constantly  replenished  by  seepage  and  irri- 
gation losses  from  gravity  supplies  and  that  it  is  nearly  always  diluted 
by  gravity  water  in  the  canals  before  delivery  to  the  irrigator. 


ORGANIZATION 

Pumping  for  drainage,  or  in  fact  drainage  of  irrigated  lands  in 
general,  is  a  problem  the  solution  of  which  can  seldom  be  undertaken 
by  the  individual  farmer.  Drainage  is  a  matter  which  not  only  inter- 
ests the  individual  who  is  unfortunate  enough  to  have  wet  or  alkali 
land,  but  the  whole  communitv  in  which  he  lives  and  therefore  the 
community  should  undertake  the  solution  of  the  problem.  The  indi- 
vidual farmer  can  seldom  solve  his  drainage  problem  without  assist- 
ance. The  necessary  construction  is  costly,  particularly  with  regard 
to  an  outlet  and  often  the  drainage  of  an  individual  farm,  unless  it 
is  very  large,  will  not  justify  the  expense. 

With  few  exceptions,  successful  drainage  in  irrigated  areas  has 
been  confined  to  that  undertaken  by  organized  drainage  districts  or 
irrigation  districts.  The  California  laws  make  specific  provision  for 
irrigation  districts  doing  drainage  work.  Throughout  the  San  Joaquin 
Valley  the  irrigation  district,  where  such  exists,  is  the  logical  organ- 
ization for  the  administration  of  drainage.  The  number  of  new  irri- 
gation districts  which  have  been  formed  within  the  last  few  years 
and  are  still  in  the  process  of  formation  will  be  a  great  impetus  to 
drainage  activities  whether  by  pumping  or  otherwise. 


Bulletin  382]       PUMPING  FOR  DRAINAGE  IN  THE  SAN  JOAQUIN  VALLEY      37 
ADVANTAGES    AND    DISADVANTAGES    OF    PUMPING 

One  of  the  advantages  of  pumping  for  drainage  is  the  flexibility 
of  the  system.  Additional  pumps  can  be  installed  when  and  where 
they  are  most  needed  without  any  loss  in  efficiency  in  those  already 
installed,  while  individual  pumps  may  be  discontinued  or  removed 
without  great  loss  in  investment. 

The  greatest  advantage,  however,  is  in  the  ability  of  pumping 
plants  to  lower  the  water  table  to  greater  depths  than  can  usually 
be  done  economically  by  any  other  method.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
flexibility  of  drainage  pumps,  that  is,  the  ease  with  which  they  can 
be  stopped  or  operated,  may,  when  misused,  militate  against  the  suc- 
cess of  drainage  by  this  method.  False  economy  may  cause  the  pumps 
to  be  stopped  before  drainage  is  fully  accomplished.  It  has  already 
been  shown  that  in  certain  localities  where  the  water  table  has  been 
lowered  rapidly  trees  and  other  crops  have  suffered.  This  occurs 
where  plants  have  developed  a  shallow  rooting  system  in  order  to 
adjust  themselves  to  high  water  table  conditions.  A  sudden  lowering 
of  the  water  table  results  in  the  plants  suffering  from  drought  before 
they  can  adjust  themselves  to  the  altered  condition  or  be  supplied 
with  surface  applications  of  water.  A  careful,  gradual  lowering  of 
the  water  table  by  drainage  will  permit  the  plants  to  develop  deep 
root  systems  and  then  if  they  are  properly  irrigated  from  the  surface 
it  is  immaterial  how  far  below  the  roots  the  water  table  is  lowered. 

The  drainage  pumps  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley,  as  at  present 
installed  and  as  they  are  likely  to  be  installed  under  the  present 
conditions,  will  unquestionably  aid  materially  in  reducing  the  drain- 
age problem  of  the  valley  and  this  type  of  drainage  bids  fair  to 
supersede  open  ditch  and  tile  drains  wherever  soil,  geological  and 
topographical  conditions  made  it  workable. 

The  economic  situation,  however,  may  retard  a  full  realization  of 
a  condition  of  adequate  drainage  throughout  the  valley  until  there  is 
such  an  urgent  need  for  more  water  for  irrigation  that  pumping 
plants  will  be  established  in  sufficient  numbers  to  produce  it,  and 
drainage  will  then  be  only  incidental. 

CONCLUSIONS 

1.  Drainage  of  irrigated  lands  by  means  of  pumping  from  deep 
wells,  first  undertaken  in  a  comprehensive  way  in  the  Salt  River  Valley 
of  Arizona  in  1918,  met  with  such  success  in  that  region  that  it  is 
being  undertaken  rather  extensively  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  of 
California. 


38  UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

2.  The  South  San  Joaquin,  Modesto,  Turlock  and  Merced  Irriga- 
tion Districts,  have  each  installed  a  series  of  deep  well  pumps  which 
will  be  operated  for  the  primary  purpose  of  lowering  the  water  table 
and  improving  drainage  conditions. 

3.  No  standard  design  has  yet  been  adopted,  nor  is  it  necessarily 
desirable  that  there  should  be,  as  local  conditions  of  soil,  geology  and 
related  subjects  may  vary  sufficiently  to  preclude  a  general  plan  being 
applicable. 

4.  Success  may  be  expected  where  the  surface  water  is  directly 
connected  with  and  a  part  of  the  normal  ground  water  and  pervious 
strata  can  be  found  from  which  relatively  large  quantities  of  water 
can  be  pumped.  The  only  other  essential  is  the  installation  of 
pumps  of  large  enough  capacity  to  deplete  the  underground  supply 
sufficiently  to  cause  the  water  table  to  recede  to  the  desired  level. 

5.  The  feasibility  of  this  method  of  lowering  the  water  table  has 
been  repeatedly  shown  in  those  parts  of  California  where  the  irriga- 
tion supply  is  obtained  by  pumping. 

6.  Two  general  plans  are  found  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley,  one 
exemplified  by  the  installations  at  Merced  and  the  other  by  those  at 
Turlock. 

The  Merced  installations  are  generally  of  a  larger  type  with  deeper 
and  larger  wells  and  greater  drawdown  than  those  at  Turlock.  At 
Merced  the  desire  is  to  lower  the  general  water  table,  while  at  Turlock 
a  local  lowering  only  is  desired. 

7.  The  cost  of  drainage  by  this  method  compares  favorably  with 
that  of  any  other  method  yet  tried,  though  the  cost  of  operation  is 
more.  Over  a  period  of  years  the  cost  of  the  two  methods  may  not 
be  very  different. 

8.  More  effective  drainage  may  be  accomplished  by  pumping  than 
by  tile  or  open  drains  because  of  the  flexibility  of  the  pumping  system, 
and  the  greater  depth  to  which  it  is  economically  feasible  to1  lower  the 
water  table. 

9.  The  pumped  water  is  readily  available  for  irrigation  and  com- 
pensates in  part  for  the  cost  of  drainage  by  this  method.  To  utilize 
water  from  tile  or  open  drains  entails  additional  cost  and  is  not 
common. 

10.  The  ultimate  and  complete  solution  of  the  drainage  problem 
in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  probably  lies  in  the  use  of  all  the  under- 
ground waters  which  can  be  economically  pumped  for  irrigation  and 
used  on  areas  not  now  irrigated. 


STATION  PUBLICATIONS  AVAILABLE  FOR  FREE  DISTRIBUTION 


BULLETINS 

No.  No. 

253.   Irrigation   and   Soil   Conditions  in  the  346. 

Sierra  Nevada  Foothills,  California.  347. 

261.  Melaxnma    of    the    Walnut,     "Juglans 

regia."  348. 

262.  Citrus    Diseases   of   Florida    and   Cuba  349. 

Compared  with  Those  of  California. 

263.  Size  Grades  for  Ripe  Olives.  350. 
268.  Growing  and  Grafting  Olive  Seedlings.  351. 
273.   Preliminary  Report  on  Kearney  Vine-  352. 

yard  Experimental  Drain. 

275.  The  Cultivation  of  Belladonna  in  Cali-  353. 

fornia.  354. 

276.  The  Pomegranate.  357. 

277.  Sudan  Grass 

278.  Grain   Sorghums. 

279.  Irrigation  of  Rice  in  California.  358. 

280.  Irrigation  of  Alfalfa  in  the  Sacramento 

Valley.  359. 

283.   The  Olive  Insects  of  California.  360. 

285.  The  Milk  Goat  in  California. 

286.  Commercial  Fertilizers.  361. 

287.  Vinegar  from  Waste  Fruits. 

294.   Bean  Culture  in  California.  362. 

298.   Seedless  Raisin  Grapes.  363. 

304.  A   Study  of  the  Effects  of  Freezes  on 

Citrus   in   California.  364. 

310.   Plum  Pollination. 

312.  Mariout  Barley.  366. 

313.  Pruning  Young  Deciduous  Fruit  Trees. 

317.   Selections  of   Stocks   in   Citrus   Propa-  367. 

gation. 
319.   Caprifigs  and  Caprification.  368. 

321.    Commercial  Production  of  Grape  Syrup. 

324.  Storage  of  Perishable  Fruit  at  Freezing  369. 

Temperatures.  370. 

325.  Rice  Irrigation  Measurements  and  Ex-  371. 

periments     in      Sacramento     Valley, 
1914-1919.  372. 

328.   Prune  Growing  in  California. 

331.   Phylloxera-Resistant  Stocks.  373. 

334.  Preliminary  Volume  Tables  for  Second-  374. 

Growth  Redwood. 

335.  Cocoanut    Meal    as    a    Feed   for   Dairy 

Cows  and  Other  Livestock.  375. 

336.  The    Preparation   of   Nicotine   Dust   as 

an  Insecticide.  376. 

339.  The  Relative  Cost  of  Making  Logs  from 

Small  and  Large  Timber.  377. 

340.  Control  of  the  Pocket  Gopher  in  Cali-  378. 

fornia. 

343.  Cheese  Pests  and  Their  Control. 

344.  Cold  Storage  as  an  Aid  to  the  Market- 

ing of  Plums. 


Almond  Pollination. 

The  Control  of  Red  Spiders  in  Decidu- 
ous Orchards. 

Pruning  Young  Olive  Trees. 

A  Study  of  Sidedraft  and  Tractor 
Hitches. 

Agriculture  in  Cut-over  Redwood  Lands. 

California  State  Dairy  Cow  Competition. 

Further  Experiments  in  Plum  Pollina- 
tion. 

Bovine  Infectious  Abortion. 

Results  of  Rice  Experiments  in   1922. 

A  Self-mixing  Dusting  Machine  for 
Applying  Dry  Insecticides  and 
Fungicides. 

Black  Measles,  Water  Berries,  and 
Related  Vine  Troubles. 

Fruit  Beverage  Investigations. 

Gum  Diseases  of  Citrus  Trees  in  Cali- 
fornia. 

Preliminary  Yield  Tables  for  Second 
Growth  Redwood. 

Dust  and  the  Tractor  Engine. 

The  Pruning  of  Citrus  Trees  in  Cali- 
fornia. 

Fungicidal  Dusts  for  the  Control  of 
Bunt. 

Turkish  Tobacco  Culture,  Curing  and 
Marketing. 

Methods  of  Harvesting  and  Irrigation 
in  Relation  to  Mouldy  Walnuts. 

Bacterial  Decomposition  of  Olives  dur- 
ing Pickling. 

Comparison  of  Woods  for  Butter  Boxes. 

Browning  of  Yellow  Newtown  Apples. 

The  Relative  Cost  of  Yarding  Small 
and  Large  Timber. 

The  Cost  of  Producing  Market  Milk  and 
Butterfat  on  246  California  Dairies. 

Pear  Pollination. 

A  Survey  of  Orchard  Practices  in  the 
Citrus  Industry  of  Southern  Cali- 
fornia. 

Results  of  Rice  Experiments  at  Cor- 
tena,    1923. 

Sun-Drying  and  Dehydration  of  Wal- 
nuts. 

The  Cold  Storage  of  Pears. 

Studies  on  the  Nutritional  Disease  of 
Poultry  Caused  by  Vitamin  A  De- 
ficiency. 


CIRCULARS 

No.  No. 

70.   Observations    on    the    Status    of    Corn  155. 

Growing  in  California.  157. 

87.   Alfalfa.  160. 

111.  The  Use  of  Lime  and  Gypsum  on  Cali-  161. 

fornia  Soils.  164. 

113.  Correspondence  Courses  in  Agriculture.  165. 
117.  The    Selection    and    Cost    of    a    Small 

Pumping  Plant.  166. 

127.  House  Fumigation.  167. 

129.  The  Control  of  Citrus  Insects.  170. 
136.  Melilotus    indica    as    a    Green-Manure 

Crop  for  California.  172. 

144.    Oidium  or  Powdery  Mildew  of  the  Vine.  173. 

151.  Feeding  and  Management  of  Hogs. 

152.  Some  Observations  on  the  Bulk  Hand-  174. 

ling  of   Grain   in   California.  178. 

154.   Irrigation   Practice   in   Growing   Small  179. 
Fruit  in  California. 


Bovine  Tuberculosis. 

Control  of  the  Pear  Scab. 

Lettuce  Growing  in  California. 

Potatoes  in  California. 

Small  Fruit  Culture  in  California. 

Fundamentals   of   Sugar    Beet   Culture 

under  California  Conditions. 
The  County  Farm  Bureau. 
Feeding  Stuffs  of  Minor  Importance. 
Fertilizing  California  Soils  for  the  1918 

Crop. 
Wheat  Culture. 
The    Construction    of    the    Wood-Hoop 

Silo. 
Farm  Drainage  Methods. 
The  Packing  of  Apples  in  California. 
Factors    of    Importance    in    Producing 

Milk  of  Low  Bacterial  Count. 


CIRCULARS — (Continued) 


No. 

184. 

190. 

193. 

198. 

199. 

202. 

203. 
205. 
208. 

209. 
210. 
212. 
214. 

215. 
217. 

219. 

220. 
228. 
230. 

231. 
232. 

233. 
234. 

235. 

236. 


237. 

238. 
239. 

240. 

241. 

242. 
243. 

244. 


A  Flock  of  Sheep  on  the  Farm. 

Agriculture  Clubs  in  California. 

A  Study  of  Farm  Labor  in  California. 

Syrup  from  Sweet  Sorghum. 

Onion  Growing  in  California. 

County    Organizations    for   Rural    Fire 

Control. 
Peat  as  a  Manure  Substitute. 
Blackleg. 
Summary  of  the  Annual  Reports  of  the 

Farm  Advisors  of  California. 
The  Function  of  the  Farm  Bureau. 
Suggestions  to  the  Settler  in  California. 
Salvaging  Rain-Damaged  Prunes. 
Seed  Treatment  for  the  Prevention  of 

Cereal  Smuts. 
Feeding  Dairy  Cows  in  California. 
Methods   for   Marketing  Vegetables   in 

California. 
The  Present  Status  of  Alkali. 
Unfermented  Fruit  Juices. 
Vineyard  Irrigation  in  Arid  Climates. 
Testing   Milk,    Cream,    and   Skim   Milk 

for  Butterfat. 
The  Home  Vineyard. 
Harvesting    and    Handling    California 

Cherries  for  Eastern   Shipment. 
Artificial  Incubation. 
Winter  Injury  to  Young  Walnut  Trees 

during  1921-22. 
Soil  Analysis  and  Soil  and  Plant  Inter- 
relations. 

The  Common  Hawks  and  Owls  of  Cali- 
fornia   from    the    Standpoint    of    the 

Rancher. 
Directions  for  the  Tanning  and  Dress- 

of  Furs. 
The  Apricot  in  California. 
Harvesting  and  Handling  Apricots  and 

Plums  for  Eastern  Shipment. 
Harvesting    and    Handling    Pears    for 

Eastern   Shipment. 
Harvesting  and  Handling  Peaches  for 

Eastern   Shipment. 
Poultry  Feeding. 
Marmalade  Juice  and  Jelly  Juice  from 

Citrus  Fruits. 
Central  Wire  Bracing  for  Fruit  Trees. 


No. 

245. 

247. 
248. 

249. 
250. 

251. 


252. 
253. 
254. 

255. 

256. 

257. 
258. 
259. 
260. 

261. 
262. 
263. 
264. 

265. 
266. 

267. 

268. 

269. 

270. 
271. 

272 

273. 
275. 

276. 

277. 

278. 


Vine  Pruning  Systems. 

Colonization  and  Rural  Development. 

Some  Common  Errors  in  Vine  Pruning 
and  Their  Remedies. 

Replacing  Missing  Vines. 

Measurement  of  Irrigation  Water  on 
the  Farm. 

Recommendations  Concerning  the  Com- 
mon Diseases  and  Parasites  of 
Poultry  in  California. 

Supports  for  Vines. 

Vineyard  Plans. 

The  Use  of  Artificial  Light  to  Increase 
Winter  Egg  Production. 

Leguminous  Plants  as  Organic  Fertil- 
izer in   California  Agriculture. 

The  Control  of  Wild  Morning  Glory. 

The  Small-Seeded  Horse  Bean. 

Thinning  Deciduous  Fruits. 

Pear  By-products. 

A  Selected  List  of  References  Relating 
to   Irrigation  in  California. 

Sewing  Grain   Sacks. 

Cabbage  Growing  in  California. 

Tomato  Production  in  California. 

Preliminary  Essentials  to  Bovine  Tuber- 
culosis Control. 

Plant  Disease  and  Pest  Control. 

Analyzing  the  Citrus  Orchard  by  Means 
of  Simple  Tree  Records. 

The  Tendency  of  Tractors  to  Rise  in 
Front;   Causes  and  Remedies. 

Inexpensive  Lavor-saving  Poultry  Ap- 
pliances. 

An  Orchard  Brush  Burner. 

A  Farm  Septic  Tank. 

Brooding  Chicks  Artificially. 

California  Farm  Tenancy  and  Methods 
of  Leasing. 

Saving  the  Gophered  Citrus  Tree. 

Marketable  California  Decorative 
Greens. 

Home  Canning. 

Head,  Cane,  and  Cordon  Pruning  of 
Vines. 

Olive  Pickling  in  Mediterranean  Coun- 
tries. 


10m-l,'25 


The  publications  listed  above  may  be  had  by  addressing 

College  of  Agriculture, 

University  of  California, 

Berkeley,  California. 


